Fusion Goes Private

Generating electricity via nuclear fusion is attracting private investors and could be on the verge of significant breakthroughs

Research and experimentation with different fuel types and a variety of reactors aim to overcome the traditional stumbling blocks. The challenge is to find the right confinement system that provides the requisite super-high temperatures and reactions that last long enough to efficiently generate more power than the technology consumes. One approach replaces deuterium-tritium fuel with a hydrogen-boron mix. Another company is betting on compact tokamaks, toroidal magnetic confinement devices, to produce fusion energy.